Communication talkgroups are known in the art. A talkgroup typically comprises a plurality of end users (and/or end user platforms) that are associated in a common group. Communications amongst and/or to a talkgroup are then readily facilitated by simply addressing or targeting a communication to, for example, an identifier for the talkgroup rather than for each individual member of that talkgroup. Such a technique has particular applicability in push-to-talk communications where, by simply pushing a transmit button a given end user can simultaneously address every member of the talkgroup. Talkgroups also permit a group of communication platforms to share network communication resources and hence can often result in considerable network efficiencies.
Communication supergroups are also known in the art. A supergroup simply comprises an aggregation of a plurality of talkgroups (usually on a temporary basis) into a so-called supergroup. To illustrate, a supergroup might be temporarily formed to permit a first talkgroup comprising police officers in vehicles, a second talkgroup comprising a strategic weapons and tactics group, and a third talkgroup comprising local fire fighters to readily communicate amongst themselves to meet some present emergency situation. Because of the relatively dynamic nature of such a setting, it is not unusual for additional talkgroups to be added to an existing supergroup and/or for existing supergroup talkgroups to be excised from the supergroup on the fly.
Talkgroups and supergroups are supported by a variety of communications systems that use a variety of enabling and/or bearer technologies. For example, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and time division multiple access (TDMA) systems and/or end user platforms often represent a given legacy condition. In some instances a given network, or some portion of a given network, may only be able to support, for example, FDMA communication resources while other networks (or other parts of a given network) may be able to support either TDMA or FDMA communication resources. By the same token, some end user platforms may comprise FDMA-only platforms while other end user platforms may be capable of TDMA or FDMA communication resource usage. As another example, some talkgroups may be limited to usage of an FDMA-tied technology such as a full-rate vocoder while other talkgroups may be capable of using a TDMA-related technology such as a half-rate vocoder.
The existence of such conditions, of course, can greatly complicate supporting supergroup formation and facilitation. Significant network resources can be quickly allocated and consumed when attempting to facilitate supergroup communications when disparate conditions such as those mentioned above are applicable.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.